Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Phenotypes and Infertility Treatment

Abstract

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) includes different clinical, endocrine, metabolic, and morphological criteria in women of reproductive age and consequently different health risks in later life of a woman. Controversy and debates related to diagnostic criteria are constant and current worldwide. As a result of many proposals for PCOS diagnostic criteria, clinicians recognize four phenotypes of PCOS. PCOS is a frequent cause of infertility with an overall prevalence of 5–15% and counts for approximately 70% of all cases of ovulation disorders. There are many aspects of studying differences between PCO phenotypes and problems in infertility treatments. Ovulation induction is often used to treat anovulatory patients with PCOS, but many of these women fail to conceive and the next step in the treatment is assisted reproduction. The contribution of oocyte health to reproductive potential varies and largely depends on the PCOS phenotype and comorbidities associated with PCOS. Contrary to the previous one, PCOS phenotype is not significantly associated with the morphological quality of oocytes. It seems that a combination of hyperandrogenism and chronic anovulation is associated with a negative impact on the cumulative pregnancy rate in medically assisted reproduction.